Is The Catholic Church a Force for Evil?

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Journalism is about capturing what is uncommon and unusual. It is about discovering that rare exception in the events of the day, and making it the exclusive preoccupation for public consumption and discussion.

And, unfortunately, this obsessive preoccupation with the uncommon occurrence has trained us to treat the exception as the norm and to form our understanding of the world, each other, and ourselves according to it.

And this laundered perception of reality is no more obvious than the way that non-Christians perceive Christianity and the Church.

This is why everyone believes that the Church has always been opposed to science. Because we all know about Galileo. His story characterizes one of less than a handful that always get carted out to support the theory of the conflict between scientific progress and the Church.

But if you wanted to talk about all the clergyman and devout Catholics who spent their lives contributing to the deposit of scientific knowledge, under the enthusiastic financial patronage of the Church, you’d have to alphabetize them because names starting with a single letter would fill a page.

All of the horrible things people first think of when they think of the Catholic Church are instances of exceptions. They commemorate the times when members of the Church failed to live up to the creed that they professed to adhere to.

It’s the exception that proves the rule. If you can be shocked by corruption it’s because that isn’t the norm. If it were, you wouldn’t be shocked by it.

[BrianHoldsworth]

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[jenniferific]

I have a long held theory. I used to work in a call centre for cable TV and internet services. People only called in when they had a problem. We never hear from those who were happy with their services. People working there heard almost nothing but complaining customers all day long. Of course you're going to get a bad impression of the company as a whole. Just like you dont go to the doctor just to say you're feeling good and healthy. The news is just the noteworthy, mostly bad, things that happen in the world. Its a negativity bias. Its not a complete picture of the state of things.

[galaxyn]

"The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs." - George Eliot

[startrek]

There have been marvelous, faithful priests in my life. ….60+ years as a convert. The first draw to the church was Truth! Prime Mover! Reason!
In the end, becoming Catholic is a step of faith. But to be open to faith first requires answers to all the World’s put downs. All the facial allegations the are thrown at Christian’s.
Those great, faithful priests were a first view of Something Special that I wanted too. A joyful, fun class of men who spoke with love & authority. And true masculinity.

[bertpenney]

While it is true that many (most?) people who want to bash the Catholic Church use Galileo as an example of the "unscientific atrocities" committed by the Catholic Church. But, if you dig into the scenario surrounding Galileo and the Church, a number of interesting things surface.

1) _Who sponsored Galileo to carry out his research that many claim upset the Church so much?_ *Pope Urban VIII*
2) _Where did Galileo perform much of his research?_ *The Vatican Observatory - one of the best in the world at the time.*
3) _What data did Galileo base much of his research on?_ *The data gathered by Fr. Nicolaus Copernicus.*
4) _What was the "sin" committed by Galileo that caused such division between him and the Church?_ *Galileo refused to follow standard scientific protocols and await acceptance of his findings by the scientific community of the day before demanding that his findings were accurate.*

And on and on. The true story of Galileo is quite different than the standard anti-Catholic rhetoric you hear.

[GiovanniJD]

One of your best videos. Fantastic point of view that's never occurred to me. Will carry this forward in defending the church and hopefully evangelizing.

[jameydunne]

While not proud of the Catholic Churches missteps over the last 2000+ years, I'm also not embarrassed by them either. I feel like the fact the church acknowledges both the good and bad moments of history actually strengthens my faith. It means that if the flawed people before me can serve and be used by God, then there's a chance God can use me also.
I love how God uses those who serve him, but I love even more how God can unwittingly use those who have no or negative interest to do his will despite their intentions. It gives me hope during my dark times and shows me who is actually in charge in the world we live in.

[chrismoore]

Considering the many evil acts that the church as perpetrated, abetted and encouraged over the centuries I'm not sure how 'Is the Catholic Church a Force for Evil?' is even a serious question. But, since the question is apparently out there, in my most humble opinion, of course it is.

[reinedire]

That people don't typically understand that the good the church has done is literally immeasurable astounds me. But claiming the church to be evil makes ignorant and non-edgy people sound smart and edgy to the ignorant and non-edgy.

[dexterfrancisvandort]

I do agree with most of what you say but as a Catholic we must hold the church to a higher standard. I believe what journalist do in exposing the wrongdoings of the church, will ultimately make the church better and closer to its ideal. Lets not cover up, admit our failings and strive harder.

[Jerome]

If you were to add up only the charitable endeavors over the centuries... yeah, its done a freaking metric ton of good. It has far more positively effected both the people and the world around it.

[blueknight]

Really enjoyed this! All the wonderful details of beautiful Catholic art, architecture, science, medicine, philosophy, and oh yeah faith. Based on the teachings of God through His Son…our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s history is massive and while yes much error..much wonder has also happened.

[DavGre]

I’ve heard it said, mainstream news is all about outliers. If we obsess over the outliers, we will miss out on the actual experience of most people.

[christopherflanagan]

The murderer spent less than 1% of his time doing evil, and nobody talks about the times he obeyed traffic signals or paid his taxes. Since he spent 99% of his time not murdering, is it really fair to call him a murderer?

[kimlevesque]

Another exceptional lesson. Thank you.

[JNF-SATX]

Fully take these points! However the Church can become complicit to an “exception” when there’s a systemic cover up to protect itself and not God’s word.
That’s why the initial responses to abuse scandals (Catholic and Protestant) caused such damage. When accountability has demonstrably failed, it casts a pall of suspicion over the good shepherds. It’ll take generations to rebuild that trust again.

[GregoryMcElhaney]

Once again a very well balanced and articulate point of view. What a blessing 😊

[zwijac]

This is a really good monologue Brian, nice work.

[IVANOsijek]

I am glad that you, mr. Holdsworth, noticed this phenomenon. Watching and participating in countless internet debates I noticed that the main problem with debating most of basic non-believers or sceptics on Catholic faith is that you will inevitably have to argue about "the Crusades", "the Inquisition", "witch burnings", "flat-earth" or some other overexaggerated narrative. Those narratives alone are for these people somehow more than enough to reject the whole deposit of faith.

[davidfinch]

When the Catholics screw up, it can be pretty epic. But balanced against that is the everyday force for good they are. They soothe the bereaved, they counsel the lonely, the build hospitals, they preach good works, the teach children art and science and literature, the list goes on. Sinners hate them because they interfere with their sinning but they do encourage them to do better which sometimes actually works. I'm sure that despite all the bad things, on the balance, they are a force for great good. I am, however, very worried about the current Pope and what the future holds...